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This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Cynthia Graber. This will just take a minute.
Electronics come in all shapes and sizes—but there’s been a limit on their flexibility1. Now, researchers say they’ve created electronics that can be shaped in virtually any way, including bent2, stretched and even tightly coiled. They published their results in the Proceedings3 of the National Academy of Sciences.
Silicon4 is the principal ingredient in electronics, and it’s inflexible5 and brittle6. To overcome this constraint7, the researchers first developed one-dimensional, single-crystal silicon electronics, which they reported in 2005. The crystals could be stretched without losing their properties.
Then last summer they demonstrated that they could build tiny circuits that were connected by tiny metal bridges. The final product could be bent and placed over a curved surface. Most recently, the researchers modified the bridges into an S shape. The additional step takes the flexibility further—the electronics can now be twisted into curves as well. One use could be a sensor8 on a human body. But the scientists see applications beyond the biological—they’re trying to develop flexible solar cells. Flat cells need to move to follow the sun. But a flexible cell could always receive direct rays without constant repositioning.
Thanks for the minute for Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Cynthia Graber.
1 flexibility | |
n.柔韧性,弹性,(光的)折射性,灵活性 | |
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2 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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3 proceedings | |
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报 | |
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4 silicon | |
n.硅(旧名矽) | |
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5 inflexible | |
adj.不可改变的,不受影响的,不屈服的 | |
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6 brittle | |
adj.易碎的;脆弱的;冷淡的;(声音)尖利的 | |
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7 constraint | |
n.(on)约束,限制;限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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8 sensor | |
n.传感器,探测设备,感觉器(官) | |
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